by: Carl Lamarre
Writer, LatinTRENDS.com
Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo, host of Piolín por la Mañana, recently had an interview with President Barack Obama, and off the bat, quickly addressed the President on the importance of working towards Immigration reform.
“I’m gonna give you the option, you know, which topic would you like me to begin with. Multiple choice. Are you ready?” Piolín asked the President. “A.) Immigration reform B.) Immigration reform, C.) Immigration reform or D.) All of the above.”
Obama responded by saying: “I think I’ll take D.) All of the above. Absolutely.”
President Obama spoke on the problematic issue wholeheartedly. He admitted that the problem entails having both sides of Congress agree to the Immigration reform, and that at the moment, Republicans are shying away rather than embracing it.
“You’ve got a rule that says 50 votes is not enough, you have to have a super majority of 60 votes,” the President explained. “And what happened was we still have 11 Republicans in the United States Senate who voted for Comprehensive Immigration Reform four years ago, but now are not willing to step up,” said Obama.
Piolin continued to press the issue on Obama by later saying it would be hard for the President to expect votes from the Latino community if the issue was to still remain unsolved.
“There is a notion that somehow if I had worked it hard enough, we could have magically done it,” Obama responded. “That’s just not the way our system works. If I need 60 votes to get this done, then I’m gonna have to have some support from the other side. If the Latino community decides to sit out this election, then there will be fewer votes and it will be less likely to get done.”
As far as the importance of Latino voters, Obama candidly admitted that they were essential in any election, and that they play a crucial role in determining the outcome.
“There is no place in the country where the Latino vote doesn’t matter,” Obama concluded. “And even if Latinos are gonna support Republicans, they should say to the Republican candidate, the price of our support is you publicly saying that you’re gonna support comprehensive immigration reform.”
